Beneath Your Beautiful Soul
by Eiridian
Summary: Becoming rivals with Toudou had never been in Makishima's life plan. Befriending Toudou had never been in Makishima's life plan. Slowly discovering the wonderful, beautiful person underneath Maki-chan's scary exterior had never been in Toudou's life plan. Falling in love certainly hadn't been anywhere in either of their plans, but sometimes that's just the way life goes.


Title song mashup of _Beneath Your Beautiful_ by Labrinth and _Beautiful Soul_ by Jesse McCartney

* * *

 **Beneath Your Beautiful Soul**

It was still very early in the morning, the sun had barely risen and had not yet gathered enough strength to let off more than a weak imitation of the light it would soon begin to emit. Knowing that there was no way that the barely awake sun had banished his peaceful slumber, the man cocooned snugly on the bed beneath a cozy blanket let out a soft groan before forcing one eye open the tiniest bit that he could. The dark amethyst eye glared tiredly at the room's closed blinds before searching out the alarm clock on the other side of the bed.

Grumbling over the fact that his bedmate was currently preventing him from discerning what ungodly hour of the morning it was, Toudou decided that it'd be far too much effort to hoist himself up to see over the pale shoulder blocking his view and instead closed his eyes with a huff and settled back into his pillow. It was obviously too early to be awake and Toudou was far too comfortable to force himself awake.

Before he could sink back into the darkness behind his eyelids Toudou felt a thin but deceptively strong arm wrap around his waist and pull him flush up against a warm, bare chest. Both of Toudou's captivatingly unique eyes opened wide in surprise as his arms automatically wound themselves around the body beside him. A content sigh brushed past slightly parted lips and tickled at Toudou's bangs, causing him to glance up from the neck he'd been pulled into to be met with his companion's sleeping face. A fond smile tugged at the edges of Toudou's lips as he moved a hand from where it was rested on a jutting hip to tuck long strands of soft green hair behind his love's ear.

Makishima hadn't even woken up to force Toudou into early morning cuddles, the lazy man.

Toudou pressed a kiss to the beauty mark just off to the left of Makishima's chin before snuggling back into the warm chest in front of him. Closing his eyes, Toudou had to laugh a little at the thought of how he had managed to make it so that he could wake up beside this beautiful man.

* * *

Toudou knew that he was good looking, had known it since second grade when he'd walked into school on the first day and a girl had walked face first into the school's front gate because she had been too preoccupied with staring at him. Yeah, he was a bit cocky about the fact but it was totally deserved. So Toudou was completely confident in how he looked and in how others saw him, even with his damn unruly bangs, thus he was very used to all of the attention that he usually garnered, going so far as to expect it even.

By the time he first entered Hakone Academy and joined the cycling club, his larger than typical sized ego had been firmly established and he could tell that it pissed some of his new teammates off. He wasn't so full of himself as to be completely unaware of the occasional negative attention aimed at him among all of the obvious adoring attention, but they soon learned that that was just how Toudou was. That is, Toudou only acted like that during normal school and practice time. The second that a competition started and it was time to get serious it was almost as if a switch got abruptly flipped inside of him. His eyes would narrow as they focused, his mouth would tighten into a hard line, and his body would lean forward over his bike in alert attention.

Toudou wouldn't find out until years later, but to a certain long haired climber he looked more beautiful on his bike when all that filled his head was the climb than he ever did on the ground when he was actually trying. And man did it take a lot of trying to make himself as pretty as he looked every day.

Every morning he had a strict routine of brushing his teeth for five minutes exactly, washing his hair with some imported shampoo and conditioner chock full of nourishing oils before wrapping it up in a towel, cleansing his face with that lightly aloe scented wash that he loved, and finally came the meticulous moisturizing of his skin. Then the towel would come off and it was another half hour of blow drying, brushing, and light application of argan oil… and then came wardrobe decisions. Looking pretty took a good hour of Toudou's morning, but it was a sacrifice that he was more than willing to make if it was enough to distract people from all the flaws that hid just beneath the perfection.

Yes, Toudou was perfectly happy putting on a show to put himself in the middle of a favorable spotlight, the only place that he let the act fall was on his bike in the middle of a race. While he was racing, when he was being serious for a rare moment, he let the attention starved pretty boy facade drop and released some of his true nature out to breathe.

It was during one of these cycling races that Toudou met him for the first time, the only climber to beat him to the top of a mountain since he'd started high school. The second term of first year had just begun and Hakone's cycling team was participating in one of the last races for the year. It was early October and the day could not have been nicer for the race. Tilting his chin up to let the still warm breeze caress his face and ruffle his hair, Toudou could smell the lingering hints of summer mingle with the crispness of fall. Shifting up onto his toes, Toudou could just see over the heads of his competitors and beyond the stretch of flat road where the path started to wind upwards and disappear among the trees. It was a fiery sea of oranges and reds as the foliage donned its seasonal colors, and Toudou could not wait to ride underneath it. He had a very good feeling about today.

That overflowing good feeling that sent tingles throughout his body and had him practically humming with energy was suddenly smashed to pieces right after Toudou entered the mountain stage of the race. He'd pulled ahead right after the flats ended, predictably, and he was settling into a comfortable lead with surprisingly little effort when a blur of shocking color zipped by him.

Toudou's pedaling switched to autopilot as he gaped at the mess on wheels in front of him. Bright yellow was an eyesore by itself, adorning the majority of the cyclist's jersey, but paired with the guy's oddly colored green hair made for a walking fashion disaster. Getting over the trauma of looking at the other cyclist, Toudou was then caught up in what had to be physics defying dancing. Mister No-Sense-of-Color-Coordination was tilting his bike so far to either side while he danced that it was a miracle he was staying upright. Not only was he staying upright, but he was _fast_.

Literally nothing about this guy made any sense, and now Toudou was determined to beat him. Feeling a smile of pure glee spread across his face, Toudou brought his body off his saddle and began to chase.

That day was the first time that Toudou lost a climb, and as he crossed the finish line sweaty and breathless he swore to find that climber so that he could get a good look at the man that beat him. Rolling to a stop, Toudou didn't bother waiting for the rest of his team as he unsnapped his helmet and hastily dismounted. For a guy who so garishly stood out, that climber sure did disappear fast. Keeping his bike at his hip, the ticked off Hakone climber began making his way through the throngs of people scanning for that shock of yellow or green.

It was so incredibly strange, considering how intensely he was searching and how obvious his target was, that Toudou somehow managed to walk right by his query and even went several steps before stopping short and doing a double take. Seriously, what was with this guy? For someone who had just beaten the best looking climber in all of Hakone, this guy was awfully demure with little to no presence about him.

All throughout the exchange that followed, Toudou noticed a few things. Along with Makishima's (who would now forever be referred to as Maki-chan) atrocious choice in school merely due to its colors, he was awfully tall and ridiculously lanky, almost spindly with his long limbs and slim physique. Although, despite the garish nature of yellow by itself, Maki-chan did wear it fairly nicely… He had a scary ass smile that sent shivers down Toudou's spine, and he vowed to help Maki-chan work on that because, of course, there was no way that Toudou wasn't making this amazing climber his new best frienemy.

Maki-chan had a face made up of clean lines and sharp angles, which probably contributed to people thinking that he appeared creepy but Toudou liked the almost harshness of his features. He had two beauty marks both on the left side of his face, one just underneath his eye and the other by his chin and skimming his jawline. His hair, which would have blended in with the leaves that had been swirling around them during the race beautifully had it been a couple of months prior, had thin streaks of red in it that Toudou hadn't noticed during their climb. Honestly, it reminded Toudou of Christmas and made his mouth curl downwards a little as he decided whether or not he liked this fact, but it did look incredibly soft and well cared for. Even with the sweat of the race darkening the strands around Maki-chan's scalp Toudou was tempted to brush his fingers through that hair just to see if it was really was soft as he thought it was.

Then there were his eyes. Cerulean blue shards that had been plucked from the sky itself alternated between discomfort and disinterest during their brief exchange of words, but Toudou was sure that they let a myriad of other emotions shine through as well and he could not wait to bring each and every one of them out.

Makishima Yuusuke, huh?

* * *

" _I want your number."_

 _A very long, loaded silence preceded the reluctant answer._

" _Why?"_

" _Because we're bound to race each other again and I might want to chat sometime!"_

 _Another long silence met Toudou's enthusiasm._

" _Why?"_

" _Just give me your number!" Toudou was becoming exasperated at the deadpan expression._

" _Beat me."_

" _What?"_

" _Beat me in the next race and I'll give you my number."_

 _It would be the one deal that Makishima would regret making for the rest of his life._

* * *

The second time that the two of them met was in early spring of the following year when the air had just warmed enough to be able to comfortably bike and it was the first competition of the year. Maki-chan, Toudou had learned from some digging around after their initial meeting, lived and went to school in Chiba, which was about two hours away and far too far away to offer any chance of a random encounter on the street. Toudou may have pouted a bit over that realization, but settled himself with the thought that they'd still run into each other at a race sooner or later. Toudou had a phone number to get, after all.

There was the smell of rain in the air on the day of the race and the sky was overcast, but the roads were dry and that's all that mattered. Well, the road conditions did matter, but so did Toudou's hair and right now it was not liking the hovering humidity. Sighing in exasperation, Hakone's mountain god did his best to tame his wayward bangs with his headband before ruining all of his hard work by putting his helmet on. That was the one downside of cycling, the helmet hair that he ended up with, but the glory and adoration of all the lady fans made it worth it.

Toudou was leaning lazily against his handlebars at the starting line amongst all the other cyclists, looking around and quietly sizing up his competition as his teammates' chatter blurred into white noise around him. A patch of bright yellow suddenly jumped out at Toudou from the sea of more tastefully colored jerseys, making him instantly straighten up as he searched for…

"Maki-chan!" Several heads swiveled towards Hakon Academy's team at Toudou's loud outburst, and Toudou was pretty sure he saw Maki-chan violently flinch before hesitantly turning those blue eyes of his in Toudou's direction. "Just you wait, Maki-chan, this time I'm beating you for sure!" Toudou proclaimed across the span of dozens of cyclists, eyes locked onto Maki-chan's as his one hand rested firmly on a hip and the other homed in to point at his newly acquired rival.

"I think you embarrassed him." Shinkai noted mildly from Toudou's left as the ace climber settled back down.

"Nah, I'm sure he's flattered to be noticed by someone as devastatingly handsome as myself." Toudou laughed heartily, recalling the horrified, pained expression on Maki-chan's face at being called out before he'd resolutely turned his back on Toudou. It was so cute how shy Maki-chan was.

Toudou had been ready for the race before, he'd been confident in his practice and his abilities and even with the weather he'd been calmly sure of his victory. Yeah, he'd been ready, but he hadn't really been excited about it like he was now that he knew Maki-chan would be racing against him. It was weird that Toudou had been in dozens of races before and yet he'd never felt as pumped as he did now. Narrowing his eyes and gripping his handlebars, Toudou could feel the air around him crackle as the race began.

The skies decided to open up upon the cyclists partway through the race, raining down cold pellets of moisture that quickly soaked and chilled the riders to the bone. Toudou wasn't fazed, having trained with his team under all weather conditions, but his hair was going to be an absolute mess. Then again, Maki-chan had fairly long hair that brushed at his shoulder, so at least he wasn't the only one suffering. Speaking of Maki-chan, Toudou could hear the sound of bicycle tires squealing against wet concrete in a way that indicated an unusual dancing style. So unusual, in fact, that Toudou seriously wondered once again how the hell Maki-chan stayed upright.

As Maki-chan pulled up alongside Toudou, the Hakone climber glanced over and caught the flash of white teeth aiming a scary smirk in his direction through the haze of the downpour. Leaning impossibly further to the side, Maki-chan sped ahead to take the lead, which fired Toudou up and prompted him to seriously start his own climb.

By the time they crossed the finish line with Toudou's front wheel a thin hair in front of Maki-chan's they were both drenched but the adrenaline and physical strain had their bodies feeling like they were on fire. Toudou's shout of victory was deafening in Maki-chan's ear even over the roar of the small but evidently dedicated crowd. Ceasing his pedaling to rest his exhausted legs and let his bike coast, the Sohoku climber heaved a heavy sigh in anticipation of what was the come. Although they had only met once before and hadn't even conversed for that long, Makishima already knew that this guy was trouble and as Toudou turned his attention to him he was not disappointed.

"You really are amazing." Toudou was still out of breath and the skies were still gray, but there was a bright, sincere smile on his face and an almost blinding light in his eyes. Makishima had no clue how to respond to that, so he remained silent as his eyes remained steady on the other teen. "And I do believe you owe me your number now, Maki-chan." Toudou's smile had settled down into a more reserved version of its previous face splitting form as they rolled to a stop.

Yep, trouble. Makishima huffed out his next breath as he took his feet off his pedals and stood, letting his bike frame lean into his leg and he unhooked his helmet. Turning his face up, Makishima relished in the cool drops of water splashing against his heated skin before turning to Toudou with a serious expression. "Only if you tell me what's with the headband."

"Hah?! That wasn't part of the agreement!" Toudou's eyes were wide in disbelief and his mouth hung half open as other cyclists started filtering by the two of them standing there.

Makishima stayed silent as he crossed his arms over his chest, settling his weight onto his left foot as he waited Toudou out. Either Toudou would comply with his request and sate Makishima's sudden off-hand curiosity, or he'd refuse and save Makishima the trouble of giving his phone number to a loudmouthed, troublesome person. Seemingly recognizing this, Toudou rolled his eyes before mirroring Maki-chan's stance and removing his own helmet.

Of course Maki-chan would ask about the hair less than a week after that bastard Arakita started teasing him about it and making him self conscious. Sigh, and Toudou had wanted to look cool in front of Maki-chan. This damn weather was not helping his hair situation either.

"Unfortunately, my hair didn't get the memo that I'm supposed to be gorgeous from dawn til dusk." Toudou sighed in resignation as he reached up to remove his signature white headband. "Just keep in mind that the sucky weather is making it worse than it normally is." Toudou was definitely pouting as his wet bangs cascaded forward, free of their normal constraint, to fall into his eyes and stick to his skin.

The steady downpour had dwindled to a light drizzling mist while the dark clouds overhead had thinned themselves out to let the shyly hiding sunlight trickle through. It seemed as if all the unseen wildlife had come back to life in a cacophony of singing birds, chirping crickets, and the gentle patter of water rolling off of leaves to scatter against wet earth. It was a beautiful, typical scene that followed a spring rain and it would have been perfect had Toudou's hair not been an atrocious monstrosity and if Maki-chan's face wasn't so unreadable as he stood there unblinkingly taking in Toudou's appearance.

Usually so full of unbridled confidence, Toudou felt his face heating up and his eyes drifting towards his shoes under the weight of Maki-chan's gaze. It was odd how much of a security blanket that headband apparently was for him, but he unfortunately liked his unruly hair too much to ever cut it short.

Long, rain chilled fingers tentatively cradled Toudou's cheek, causing him to glance up in shock only to see equally surprised eyes staring wide-eyed back at him. Maki-chan stood frozen with his one hand still rested on Toudou's face, looking as if he was just as thrown by his own action as Toudou was. Shrugging himself out of their frozen tableau, Maki-chan let his fingers wander up to thread through the dark bangs framing Toudou's eyes, coaxing them back out of his face. Maki-chan's expression remained unreadable no matter how hard Toudou tried to decipher it as he felt those long fingers gently, seemingly unconsciously, comb through his hair.

Toudou was honestly tempted to close his eyes and lean into Maki-chan's touch, it was so soothing. Toudou was actually not sure that he'd ever been touched by someone as innocently intimate as Maki-chan was being. Maki-chan probably didn't even know what he was doing to Toudou, probably didn't know that the mere brush of skin on skin had caused Toudou's heart to stutter its usual rhythm to a stop before picking up a beat it had never played before. Maki-chan probably didn't know that to this day Toudou's heart had never returned to its original rhythm.

"I don't know. I'm pretty sure your hair got the memo just fine." Maki-chan's voice was deadpan, nonchalant, but the faint dusting of pink on his cheeks gave him away as he finally let his fingers unwind from Toudou's damp locks. Toudou's eyes widened impossibly further at the slight upward tilt pulling at the corner of Maki-chan's mouth as he let his hand return to his side. "But I can see why you'd need to pull it back for cycling." Now both corners of Maki-chan's lips were quirking upwards as those slim fingers of his took the white headband from Toudou's frozen hands and carefully replaced it on Toudou's head.

It was Toudou's first glimpse at what would someday be his favorite smile in the world, and he would swear to his last breath that that was the moment that he fell in love with Makishima Yuusuke.

* * *

" _What're you up to today, Maki-chan?"_

" _Studying."_

" _That's boring."_

" _Did you need something?"_

" _Maki-chan! So cold! You'll make me sad."_

" _..."_

" _So, you'll never guess what Shinkai did today…"_

* * *

There were days in a person's life when they just did not want to. It didn't matter what the weather was like outside and it didn't matter if it was a schoolwork filled weekday or a lazy weekend day because just the thought of doing anything was abhorrent. This was one such day for Toudou, who lay spread out on his back in the middle of his unmade bed, still in his pyjamas with his hair in disarray and a sour expression stuck on his face. It was early summer, term had just ended, and while it was a beautiful morning out there all Toudou wanted to do was stay in bed and just not do anything.

Humidity had not yet settled upon Hakone, the skies were clear as crystal, the late morning sun had warmed the air to the perfect comfort level, and if the loud chirping coming through the window was any indication at least the birds were enjoying the day. It was the perfect day to be on his bike but instead Toudou was holed up in his room with the blinds valiantly trying to block out all of the cheeriness of the world. He could be outside, he could be rotting brain cells in front of the television, he could be trolling the day away on the internet, he could even be reading while refusing to leave his bed, but no. Instead, here Toudou was wallowing away a perfectly beautiful day refusing to even leave his bed.

Dark purple eyes glared through the silence at the ceiling, both desperately wanting to do something and not wanting to move an inch from where he currently was. Mustering up all of the energy that he had in his body, Toudou flopped himself over so that he was now on his tummy with his face pressed into his covers. Maybe he could spend the day determining the least amount of oxygen that his body needed before he passed out.

A cheerful beeping, muffled by the blanket but not nearly enough to not piss Toudou off, started assaulting Toudou's ears from somewhere around his head. He was very tempted to ignore his phone and say screw whoever was trying to interrupt his day of smothering himself in blankets, but his hand had automatically reached for it and flipped it open.

Groaning at his impeccable muscle memory, Toudou reluctantly lifted his face from the covers to snap into the phone, "the hell do you want?"

There was a long silence.

"Well, never mind then."

"Wait, Maki-chan!" Toudou had never sat up so fast and felt a little lightheaded for it. "I didn't mean that! It's just that you never call me and I thought it was one of my teammates bugging me about going outside!" Toudou exclaimed into the phone all in one breath before flopping back on his stomach and kicking his feet up behind his back. "So… what's up?"

There was a quiet chuckle from the other end of the line before Maki-chan's voice came back. "Well, I was going to see if you were busy and obviously you're having a very full day of being a princess at home. You probably haven't even left your bed yet today." The smirk was obvious in Maki-chan's voice as Toudou indignantly opened and closed his mouth a few times with no sound coming out.

"How did you-" Toudou finally managed to choke out before something caught up with him. "Wait, why were you calling to see if I was busy? You live two hours away, it's not like we could just meet up to hang out…?" His confusion was met with an awkward laugh and Toudou could just imagine Maki-chan scratching at his chin as he debated his next words.

"Well… we always have our training camp in Hakone so we've actually been here this weekend and just finished up this morning, and I thought-"

"Yes!" Toudou was on his feet, still on his bed, and bouncing in place before he knew it. "I'll need half an hour to look gorgeous, meet me at Lola's. It's this little cafe across from the giant fountain in town, can't miss it!"

He was so excited that he snapped his phone closed and practically threw himself into the bathroom, but not before he could have sworn he heard Maki-chan scoff, "you mean you don't just wake up like that?"

Exactly twenty-eight minutes later, Toudou was entering the main square at a leisurely stroll, holding in the excitement that really wanted him to skip all the way to _Lola's_. Maki-chan was here in Hakone and had actually called Toudou instead of the normal vise versa. This was the best day ever and the sun was brilliant and the breeze was warm and everything in the world was _perfect_.

"You have a scary smile." Maki-chan's comment was dry, but he had that tiny smile tugging at his lips as Toudou almost bounced up to where he was leaning up against the ornate metal fence surrounding _Lola's_.

"This is my happy smile." Toudou grinned, taking in Maki-chan's appearance in something other than a cycling jersey for the first time. Maki-chan's top was a simple enough three-quarter length sleeve loose fitting black cotton piece with a low crew neck. His pants, on the other hand, were a bright blue and yellow mess of a checkerboard pattern garishly covering those long legs of his. Were those pink polka dots on his shoes?

Shaking his head with a cheerful laugh, Toudou motioned for Maki-chan to head into the cafe ahead of him.

 _Lola's_ was a fairly new addition to the town's main square tucked comfortably amidst numerous shopping boutiques that provided the cafe with plenty of business. Boasting an intimate, refreshing atmosphere, the inside of the cafe was bright and clean with copious amounts of natural light spilling in through the large windows that faced the square's fountain. Small two or four person tables were arranged around the cafe's floor space around the counter while there was cushioned bench seating by the windows. Whites, blues, and greens made up the decor of the cafe and there was always a gentle hum of conversation mingled with clinking silverware. Toudou had found _Lola's_ a while ago and instantly loved it, it was the perfect place to bring Maki-chan for their first time hanging out.

They snagged one of the bench tables by a window and sat side by side ("to enjoy the view together, Maki-chan!") before ordering their meal from a sweet looking waitress and dissolving into conversation.

"I didn't know Sohoku came all the way out here to train." Toudou was saying as a latte was set down in front of him and an ice tea in front of Maki-chan.

"It's a pretty long tradition, actually." Maki-chan shrugged as he stirred some sugar into his drink. "The course has a good balance of flats and inclines and we get a good deal at the inn, I guess." More sugar was stirred in before Maki-chan took an experimental sip, paused, and then reached for another sugar packet.

"Maki-chan likes sweets, huh?" Toudou observed in amusement over the rim of his coffee cup. "It's kind of ironic, considering how sour your face looks sometimes." He had to hastily set his cup down as Maki-chan's demonstration of that exact look sent laughter coursing through his body.

The wait for their food was mainly filled with Toudou's never ending stream of chatter about random topics from school to food to travel to biking. He'd hop from topic to topic and then back again, sometimes all within the span of a single breath. Normally he'd consciously rein in his all over the place trains of thought because people found it hard to follow and horribly off-putting. Maki-chan, however, while not contributing much other than a comment or two here and there kept his eyes attentive on Toudou the entire time with that weird little almost smile of his.

Their sandwiches came and they dug in, but not before Toudou made sure to thank their lovely waitress and appreciate her blushing giggle. Makishima watched this exchange impassively as he munched on one of the tuna sandwiches. It was almost fascinating how effortlessly flirting came to Toudou, not to mention the twittering reactions of the girls Makishima had seen him interact with. They were the same age, but Makishima knew without a doubt that Toudou was kilometers ahead in the dating department. It would be irritatingly depressing if it weren't for the fact that Makishima knew Toudou and felt sorry for whoever fell for him.

"Stop thinking so loudly, Maki-chan. I can hear you." Toudou's expression was smug enough to make Maki-chan's right eye give a violent twitch before he took an aggressive bite of his sandwich. "While there are many pretty ladies that swoon over me and I date many of them, sadly it never lasts long." Toudou let out a dramatic sigh as he reached for the sandwich plate.

"Maybe it's because you're a loudmouth, vain, competitive, headband obsessed weirdo." It was Maki-chan's turn to smirk evilly at the offended pout on Toudou's face. "You're much better when you're not trying. Well, you're still loud and competitive, but it's different." Maki-chan looked troubled for a moment as he tried to articulate himself, but he shrugged it off. "I mean, I don't care either way, but it never feels good to force yourself into someone else's mold for you."

Toudou was speechless for the longest minute of his life and became acutely aware of the erratic beat thumping against his ribcage. Maki-chan was sipping his overly sweet tea, elbows resting on the table edge, and eyes lazily watching the people walking by outside. It was as if Maki-chan knew that he'd just tilted Toudou's world sideways and was giving him time to adjust.

"Maki-chan… you actually like me? Super competitive, talkative, egotistical me?" The glance Maki-chan tossed him from the corner of his eyes clearly told him how idiotic that question sounded. "Even though I sort of forced you to become friends with me?" Toudou winced a little as he realized the truth in that.

"You wouldn't be you otherwise." Maki-chan shrugged as he set his glass down. "And like I said, I like you better when you're not actually trying to hide how annoying you are."

"Maki-chan!" Toudou smacked his shoulder for that comment but couldn't help his relieved laugh. "You're amazing, you know? How you're not afraid to be different." His voice had softened with admiration, which made Maki-chan a little uncomfortable.

"Maa, well, I used to be." Maki-chan rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously, his other hand twirling his drink straw. Seeing the surprised look in Toudou's eyes, he continued. "People used to comment on my hair, my face, my climbing… it came to the point where I was super scared of what people thought of me and I tried changing myself."

"What? Why?!" Toudou exclaimed as he leaned over to invade Maki-chan's space. "Why would you ever want to change? Your climbing is amazing! No one else can climb like you and you're the fastest climber, except for me of course. And there is nothing wrong with your hair, I think it'd look really nice if you grew it out more, actually…" Toudou had gotten right in Maki-chan's face, both startling and freezing the other climber to the point where Maki-chan hardly noticed him pensively running his fingers through shoulder length iridescent locks.

Wide blue eyes slowly relaxed before closing completely as Maki-chan huffed and gently pushed Toudou back into his own space.

"See? If you don't see anything wrong with me then you shouldn't see anything wrong with yourself. I'm sure people would still like you even if you don't put on a show." Makishima was not used to talking this much, much less with someone like Toudou, and decided that it was time to take refuge in his tea as Toudou sat there beaming like an idiot.

"Thank you, Maki-chan." Toudou's voice, Makishima noticed, was actually pretty nice and not mind-jarringly abrasive when he was being sincere. Of course Toudou couldn't let the moment last too long as he tilted his head and scrutinized Maki-chan in a way that sent chills of dread down his spine. "Do you have any hobbies outside of cycling?"

"You've lost me."

"Maki-chan! You're my new bestie, we're supposed to talk about stuff we like. Obviously there's cycling, but what else?" Toudou had his elbows on the table and his head resting in his hands, causing the twitch to come back to Maki-chan's eye. They looked like a pair of gossiping girls and Makishima was seriously questioning his choice to call Toudou.

"Designing." Maki-chan reluctantly ground out, knowing that Toudou would just nag him for forever until he answered. "I like designing clothes."

Toudou's eyebrows shot way up as his eyes raked over the outfit that Maki-chan had dressed himself in. Of all the possible answers that Maki-chan could have given him that was probably one of the last ones that Toudou expected.

"I like flowers." The shock made the words come out without thought, and that shock only increased when Maki-chan burst out laughing. "Maki-chan!" Toudou probably would have been mortified at Maki-chan laughing at him if he weren't so preoccupied with the way the uninhibited laughter made Maki-chan's shoulders shake and the corners of his eyes crinkle. "There's nothing wrong with liking flowers! I just don't advertise it because, well… it's not the coolest…" Maki-chan hadn't stopped laughing and Toudou was torn between an epic pout and just appreciating the sight.

"You know, there's something totally uncool that I've always wanted to do…"

That shut Maki-chan up.

* * *

"You have got to be kidding me." Maki-chan's voice was drier than several deserts as his unwavering stare followed Toudou's spinning form. They were standing in the square's fountain after Toudou had hastily paid and physically dragged Maki-chan out of the cafe. Literally… standing in the fountain.

It was one of those huge built into the ground kind of fountains, to be fair. At least Toudou hadn't made him jump into an actual basin fountain, he'd probably have had to walk away had that been the case. As it was, Makishima was very close to walking away anyways because they were starting to draw attention and there was nothing that he hated more than being the center of attention. Toudou, on the other hand…

"Maki-chan, you better move." Toudou sang as he grabbed both of Maki-chan's hands in his and pulled him forward just as the jets beneath where he was standing shot streams of water skywards. "Stop worrying about what people think, just like you told me to, and have fun with me!" He hadn't let Maki-chan's hands drop before he started spinning again, forcing Maki-chan to follow him as errant spray from numerous jets dampened their clothing and hair.

There were still many eyes watching as the two high schoolers ran around in the fountain trying to avoid getting sprayed by the jets like little children and Makishima could still feel the weight of their stares on him, but somehow the amethyst eyes right in front of him drowned out all the others. With a very put upon sigh, Makishima tightened his grip on Toudou's hands and caught the raven't attention just in time to be pulled into a fully functioning jet spewing out fresh cool water.

The high pitched squeal that escaped Toudou at the first hit of water quickly dissolved back into his previous carefree laughter as he threw his head back and let the water rush over him. This time, however, it wasn't just his laughter that broke through the sound of splashing water. Looking over in surprise, Toudou was treated with the sight of Maki-chan, hands still in his, soaked from head to toe with the biggest smile Toudou had ever seen on his face and laughter bubbling out of his chest. What was most shocking was the fact that neither his smile nor his laugh was creepy or nerve chilling, they were… beautiful.

On their walk back to the inn where Maki-chan was meeting with the rest of his team to head home they walked by a small florist's shop and Maki-chan suddenly left his side for a minute. Standing alone in bewilderment, Toudou was tempted to pinch himself awake as Maki-chan reappeared from the shop with a single lavender rose in his hand that was a couple of shades lighter than Toudou's eyes. His clothes were still soaked, his hair was a mess, and none of the colors on his person went together, but he took Toudou's breath away as he wordlessly pressed the flower into Toudou's hands and continued walking.

Later at home after he'd changed into dry clothing and fixed his hair, Toudou carefully pressed the rose in between the pages of one of his heaviest books and was already visualizing the frame he'd put it in. Noticing the ridiculously happy smile that had been on his face for who knows how long, Toudou started to wonder what was happening to him.

* * *

" _Do you have any idea what time it is?" Toudou had never heard Maki-chan's voice so low and gravely as the other teen tried to pull himself far enough away from sleep to string coherent words together, and on any other night Toudou would have probably appreciated this new side of his friend._

" _Maki-chan, I had a nightmare."_

 _On a normal occasion Makishima would have simply told Toudou where to shove it and hung up the phone, but there was something about the tiny quality of the usually loud teen's voice, the startling vulnerability, that made Makishima pause._

" _Okay." Clearing his throat of a bit of its huskiness, Makishima rolled over onto his back to get more comfortable before letting his eyes close again. "Get comfy and close your eyes. If you really want, I can tell you a story about my pet rabbit from when I was younger."_

* * *

A few months and a couple of races later saw the weather turning frigid as Japan was blanketed in snow. The season for cycling was over, leaving Toudou and Makishima sitting at a score of 3-2 as they prepared to enter the end of their first year of high school. Remembering the smug satisfaction on Toudou's face when he won their last race by a hair to break their tie still made Makishima grumble, simply because the last thing that Toudou needed was an ego boost, but at least it was now winter. Although the change in season meant that outdoor cycling was put on hold, there were a great many things that Makishima enjoyed about winter. Big, thick sweaters were pulled out from the back of closets, warm hearty meals were had that filled the belly and soul, but best of all was relaxing under the kotatsu with a mug of hot tea and looking out at the snow covered world.

Winter was a time of peace for Makishima. His brother had moved away already and his parents always traveled around the holiday time, all of which left Makishima alone to enjoy the quiet of the house. He spent his vacation days curled up with books, taking strolls through the snow when he felt like it, or meeting up with Tadokoro and Kinjou to catch a movie or hang out. It was a wonderfully relaxing, peaceful time for Makishima and if he hadn't answered the doorbell two days before Christmas it would have stayed as such.

Standing at the doorway trying to blink away the person on the doorstep ankle deep in snow, Makishima's proper upbringing may have been the only thing stopping him from slamming the door shut and running to his room to hide from the raven haired teen currently grinning at him. As tempting as it was to just close his eyes and pretend that Toudou Jinpachi was not at his house in the middle of winter, disrupting his time of avoiding human contact, there was no way that he could have mindfully conjured the image of a puffy purple coat and fluffy white earmuffs.

"Aw, Maki-chan, you look so happy to see me!" The sad thing was that Makishima detected not even a hint of sarcasm in Toudou's cheerful statement.

"Always." Although he didn't even try to infuse the word with any sincerity, Makishima still stepped aside to let his bubbly rival enter before closing the door against the cold. "To what do I owe the displeasure?"

"Don't be like that, Maki-chan." Toudou pouted as he pulled his earmuffs down around his neck, but it didn't last long as his smile quickly made a reappearance. "My parents have friends here in Chiba so… I decided to hand deliver your Christmas present!" Toudou proceeded to produce a neatly wrapped silver package from somewhere inside his coat with a flourish.

Not letting the frozen stare and surprise parted lips faze him, Toudou happily thrust the package into Maki-chan's hands and began rocking back and forth on his feet in excitement. "Go ahead and open it." He prompted when Maki-chan seemed more interested in staring down at his present than finding out what was inside.

Glancing up to briefly meet Toudou's eyes before turning his attention back to his present, Maki-chan gingerly reached up and slowly, meticulously slid a finger along a seam to release the tape. Toudou was not a patient person to begin with, but when he was this eager to see Maki-chan's reaction to his gift it was pure torture watching the man take for fucking ever to remove each piece of tape. His fingers twitched, wanting to rip the wrapping paper to shreds himself, but he somehow managed to hold himself in check as Maki-chan finally unveiled the gift.

As the paper floated utterly forgotten to the floor, Toudou kept his eyes glued to Maki-chan's face as he tried to gauge a reaction. Maki-chan's expression was non-existent for so long that Toudou was actually starting to second guess what he had been sure was the perfect gift. Frowning slightly in unhappiness, Toudou was about to say something, apologize, anything to get some kind of reaction out of Maki-chan. It was then that Toudou noticed the sheen of gathering moisture in Maki-chan's eyes, the almost imperceptible quiver in his lower lip, and the careful but firmly possessive grip that he had on the sketchbook in his hands.

"Merry Christmas, Maki-chan." Toudou's voice was as soft as his smile as he watched Maki-chan close his eyes and bow his head as he hugged his new sketchbook to his chest. A deep breath was pulled in, held for several counts, and then slowly let out before blue eyes shyly looked up to meet Toudou's.

"Jinpachi, do you want to build a snowman?"

* * *

Turns out Jinpachi very much wanted to build a snowman, and an igloo, and a snow fort to have a snowball fight, and make snow angels… Toudou's normal enthusiasm for everything seemed to have been magnified tenfold, but for once Maki-chan was matching him in it. Since his brother moved out Makishima hadn't played in the snow like this and he'd missed it, hadn't realized how much he'd missed it until Toudou shoved him into a snowdrift and he vowed revenge.

As most things went when the two of them were involved, their snow activities quickly turned into competition. Maki-chan's snowman formed faster than Toudou's, but Toudou's igloo didn't collapse with the slightest applied pressure. Toudou made the better looking fort, tree branch flag and all, but apparently had shitty aim when trying to hit a moving target. It was down to a tie as the two of them lay in the snow, skin heated underneath their layers of clothing and breath materializing from parted lips as they evened their breathing out.

"How do you even compete in making snow angels?" Toudou wondered aloud as he felt the snow melting against his exposed neck and chilling him.

"You start flapping your arms and legs like an idiot and whoever makes the cleanest one wins." Maki-chan huffed out as he started to half-heartedly move his limbs in demonstration. The less than amused expression on Maki-chan's face made Toudou burst out laughing before following suit and starting his own angel.

"It's not even fair, your limbs are longer so your angel's going to look better." Toudou accused with no bite to his words as he turned his head to face his rival.

"You're welcome to concede now." Maki-chan offered, embodying the picture of winter serenity as he lay there with his eyes closed, lips relaxed in contentment, green hair splayed out contrasting with the snow it rested on, and limbs slowly pushing at the snow to make the impression of an ethereal being. For a fleeting moment Toudou considered taking that offer and instead of trying to break the tie in his favor spend the remaining time outside just watching Maki-chan… but then he remembered himself and tore his eyes away to gaze back at the light gray skies above them with a grin.

"Not a chance!"

Toudou supposed it was only fair that the universe balanced out his current lead in their cycling rivalry by letting Maki-chan win their snow day competition with a beautiful snow angel. His consolation was a nice hot shower to warm up after being outside for so long and Maki-chan's house, being the huge structure that it was, of course had multiple full bathrooms generously stocked with everything one could need. Toudou's inner princess was beside herself with glee when he entered the guest bathroom to find expensive soaps, luxurious shampoo, large sponges, fluffy towels, and a multi-setting hair dryer sitting atop a double sink vanity with a giant mirror behind it.

Maki-chan may never get rid of him.

When Toudou finally reemerged from the now steam filled, floral scented bathroom, Maki-chan was already tucked away under the kotatsu and cradling a cup of tea between his slender fingers. Entering the living room, Toudou sat down and tucked himself in across from his unwitting host before glancing down and finding himself admiring the tea set that Maki-chan had prepared.

"My mother loves collecting tea sets. She's a bit of a tea enthusiast." Maki-chan explained as he poured Toudou's cup.

"With excellent taste." Toudou complimented as he carefully rotated the cup in his hand to pick out the tiny white cranes painted against a veridian petaled background. A low hum of pleasure vibrated from his chest as he took his first sip and felt the heat tingle his lips right before the rich notes of northern Chinese red tea swept over his tongue. "Hm… I love Chinese teas. We don't get them too often at the inn."

Looking up, Toudou was surprised to see a small, neatly wrapped in neon green present sitting on the table in front of him. Maki-chan was very intently sipping his tea when Toudou's questioning gaze fixed upon him, but the subtle dusting of pink on his cheeks could not be hidden by his cup.

"It's just a small thing, nothing special. I was going to send it out tomorrow but figured that since you're here, might as well." Maki-chan's words were mumbled and hard to hear even had there not been a teacup practically glued to his lower lip. Taking the hint from Maki-chan's refusal to look anywhere near the vicinity of his person, Toudou refrained from blurting out any of the dozen thoughts running through his mind and instead set his cup down so that he could pick up his present.

For as infuriating as Maki-chan had been with the slow unwrapping of his present, Toudou suddenly understood his actions. This was their first gift exchange as whatever they were (friends, rivals, something in between) and it was special. When the paper fell away Toudou was left holding in his hand a beautiful white tortoiseshell hairpin carved into the shape of a lotus flower. Feeling his breath catch at the obvious thought and care that went into choosing this particular gift, Toudou ran his fingers over the lotus' smooth surface as he tried to find the right words to say. For as vocal as he usually was, whenever a moment came when all he wanted was the perfect words nothing ever came to mind.

Warm fingers brushing at his temples pulled Toudou out of his inner turmoil as Maki-chan removed his headband, deftly catching his bangs before they could tumble into his eyes and pushing them back out of the way. Taking the hairpin from Toudou's hand, Maki-chan took his time placing it in his hair as he made sure to catch all the stray pieces of hair. Task completed, Maki-chan sat back and resettled himself, picking his tea back up just to give his hands something to do under Toudou's intense gaze filled with mixed emotions.

"In case you feel like changing it up." Maki-chan shrugged nonchalantly but there was a shy, happy smile on his face as he took in Toudou's new appearance.

Toudou still could not make any words pass his lips, but looking at Maki-chan sitting across a kotatsu from him in a traffic cone orange sweater, smile half-hidden by his teacup and an unusual light in his eyes, he had the sudden urge to kiss him.

* * *

 _ **TJ:**_ _Maki-chan, I'm bored. Visiting my parents' friends for Christmas is such a draggggg_

 _ **MY:**_ _Merry Christmas to you, too_

 _ **TJ:**_ _Oh, you're still alone, aren't you_

 _ **MY:**_ _I'm fine_

 _ **TJ:**_ _I'm calling you_

 _ **MY:**_ _I'm fine!_

 _ **TJ:**_ _Too late! :)_

* * *

By mid February the air outside was still brisk on a good day and bone chilling on the days that winter winds swept through Hakone, which turned Toudou's mood progressively more sour as he glared out the window any chance he got in the hopes of scaring winter away. It had been nice for a while, the cold weather and quiet days, but by now the itch to get back on his bike and just go was almost overwhelming. This must be what it felt like for a caged bird, Toudou concluded despondently as he stood in one of the inn's public hallways with his forehead pressed to the cold glass dividing the warmth of the building from the icy tundra outside.

"Jinpachi! I need you to go prepare a bath." Toudou's mother's loud, carrying voice suddenly invaded his temporary sanctuary from somewhere within the inn. Wincing at the volume of the normally mild mannered woman's work mode voice, Toudou was reminded of where he'd probably gotten his own loud personality.

Allowing himself to be pulled back into work, Toudou added another item to his long list of reasons why he wanted it to be warm enough to be outside on his bike rather than trapped inside; being inside meant helping out with the family business. It was a never ending cycle of laundry, meal prep, customer service, bath attendance, and cleaning. Lots and lots of cleaning. Being his normal charming self while being stretched in multiple directions was trying at times, but Toudou was confident that his natural magnetism was what kept the clients coming back. Even if sometimes all he wanted to do was lock himself in his room and refuse all human interaction.

Heading to the storeroom with his mother's handwritten bath order in hand, Toudou scanned the shelves of different bath additives and pulled a couple of bottles and a jar of salts, all formulated and mixed in house. That was one aspect of running the inn that Toudou actually enjoyed, all of the unique baths that they offered. They had a special mix of aromatic oils and salts for de-stressing the haggard looking business people seeking an escape from the office, a blend of assorted floral notes for those romantic getaways (as cute as it was, Toudou still shuddered every time it was an old couple soaking in one of those baths), and Toudou's personal favorite assortment of invigorating salts for weary athletes. Along with a whole list of other bath types that were offered, guests were also given the option to mix different premade additive combinations to suit their wants and needs.

As he headed towards the room number on the order slip with his armful of bath supplies Toudou was pleasantly surprised to note that he held a combination of relaxing stress relievers and body revitalizers. It was a perfect balance for an athlete in their off season and Toudou thoroughly approved, curious now about the person that he was preparing the bath for. A quiet squeak of knobs turning in the silent room preceded the sound of flowing water and as the water turned warm careful attention was given to the measurement of salts and oils to add. After checking and adjusting the bath temperature, Toudou watched to make sure everything was mixing in well before moving to the small cabinet off to the side of the room and pulling out fresh incense.

His motions were all routine muscle memory driven at this point, especially since spring festival and Valentine's day were so close to each other that year. The inn was busier than ever and the days just seemed to blur together into a blob of never ending tasks. Back at the edge of the nearly full bath, Toudou heaved a hearty sigh as he heard the sound of muffled footsteps coming down the hallway to stop outside the room. A moment's hesitation, probably as the client double checked the room number, and then the sound of the door behind him sliding open reached his ears.

Plastering a smile on his face, Toudou stood from his kneeling position and turned to face the client.

"Your hair's grown!"

Blue eyes mirrored purple in equal parts shock and brief confusion at the exclamation that instantly passed Toudou's lips when his eyes landed on the robed teen before him. It was shocking, actually, how Toudou had needed only fleetingly glimpse the unmistakable green hair out of the corner of his eye as he turned around to somehow accept the crazy reality that Maki-chan was in front of him.

Thin fingers reached up self consciously to play with the ends of what he now knew for a fact was super soft iridescent green hair that had grown long enough to tickle the bottoms of Maki-chan's collarbones. Maki-chan's hair even had a natural wavy curl at the ends when it was long enough, who knew? That familiar itch to comb his fingers through those uniquely colored locks tingled through him more intensely than it usually did, but Toudou managed some restraint with a serene smile as he motioned Maki-chan towards the bath like the good innkeeper that he was.

"Forgive my outburst, sir. Your bath is ready." Toudou assumed his professional demeanor and even bowed a little, grinning when he got an amused scoff out of Maki-chan as he brushed by.

"It suits you." Maki-chan's hair was shielding most of his face but the teasing half smile was visible as he shed his robe and slid into the bath with a quiet groan. The sight and barely audible sound short-circuited Toudou's brain for a moment, making him take longer than it should have to slip back into reality.

"Is the bath temperature to your liking?" Wow, that sounded stupid.

"It's perfect." Maki-chan grinned as his eyes slipped closed and he blindly reached for his robe pocket to pull out a hair clip. Thank god Maki-chan kept his eyes closed as he pulled his hair up and clipped it because Toudou couldn't tell if his gaping mouth or unblinking eyes were wider as he followed Maki-chan's every move.

"Um…" Toudou quite literally had to pinch himself to regain any capabilities of speech. "Will you be joining us for dinner in the community hall?"

"Are you cooking for me?" A mirthful blue eye cracked open to focus on him.

"Do you want me to?" Toudou could not recall his voice ever being that squeaky.

"I was under the impression that it was your ambition to be a good housewife. Cooking kind of goes along with that." Maki-chan was baiting him, as was evident by the quirk in his lips and the gleam that hadn't left his eye, and Toudou knew this but damn him for taking it hook, line, and sinker as he dropped the cheerful, accommodating facade in an instant in favor of a narrow eyed pout.

"I am going to cook you the best meal you have ever eaten, so you better prepare yourself!" Toudou punctuated his proclamation with a firm finger pointed at a very unfazed Maki-chan before whirling around and exiting the room, now on a warpath towards the kitchen.

* * *

Makishima usually didn't come out of hibernation and interact with people again until he could walk outside and not see himself breathing, but this year his uncle had offered to take him along on his yearly conquest of the ladies at the Toudou Inn and his stiff muscles had perked up at the idea. His parents were still off traveling who knows where and his uncle had taken pity on him, not that he minded. With his uncle off chasing skirts and boobs, Makishima was free to leisurely roam the historic inn, take as many specialty baths as he wanted, and eat all of the fine cuisine the inn offered, all on his uncle's wallet. Seeing Toudou nearly give himself whiplash and stumble clumsily over his words for once was simply a plus.

After a nice long soak in his ginger and mint scented bath, Makishima could feel his stomach growling and reluctantly pulled himself out of the still steaming water. It was amazing how long the inn's baths stayed the perfect temperature and had it not been for his body's need for sustenance Makishima would have gladly stayed longer in the bath Toudou had drawn and prepared for him.

Toweling himself dry and wrapping himself up in his robe, Makishima settled himself on the floor as he unclipped his hair and took his time combing it out. The steam from the bath had dampened the green strands and he knew that if he didn't give it some attention now it'd be an awful tangled mess when it dried. Task complete, both clip and comb were tucked back into robe pockets and Makishima left the room to meander towards the spacious community hall where lively conversation between the inn patrons was already in full swing.

Feeling his familiar awkwardness settle in as he entered the hall, Makishima stuck to the wall as he moved towards an empty table in the corner furthest from the kitchen where everyone seemed to be gathered around. Drink was flowing and raucous laughter bounced between the closely placed square tables, seemingly amplifying itself in the process. Makishima spotted his uncle in the midst of the merrymaking, cheeks red from the alcohol, eyes glassy with cheer, and arms full of two women who looked to be only a few years older than Makishima.

Shaking his head in exasperated fondness, Makishima took his seat and was delightfully surprised to discover a small television set right by his table. After a minute of fiddling with the knobs, Makishima found a sports channel that was, as fortune would have it, televising an international cycling race. Shutting out the noise around him, Makishima focused on the screen before him even if it was far too loud to hear any commentary on the race.

"Why am I not surprised?" The good humored mirth in Toudou's voice was probably the only sound that could have stolen Makishima's attention from the race as he looked up to see Toudou standing beside him with a large bowl in each hand and a grin on his face. "Trust you to find the most secluded table next to a television so you don't have to socialize. How's the race?" He placed both bowls down, one in front of Makishima and one at the empty place beside him, produced two pairs of chopsticks from thin air, and then plonked himself down next to Makishima.

The katsudon was steaming hot and the perfect balance of savory and sweet, and as the two of them happily emptied their bowls while discussing the race and cyclists Makishima wondered if it really had been Toudou who prepared the meal. It was delicious and would definitely make him a good housewife someday, but Makishima would keep that to himself for the time being.

Cyclists were still traversing the course on the television by the time both bowls were empty with pairs of chopsticks laid across them. The general din of the community hall had raised a few notches as more drink was consumed, but Makishima hardly noticed it as he sat back in his chair with a comfortably full stomach and Toudou's chatter beside him. As the long race continued on, their conversation topic shifted to other things such as school activities and what they each were doing to occupy the time that was normally spent on their bikes. Toudou regaled Makishima with all the stories he had of working at the inn while Makishima claimed a more quiet winter season of reading and sketching.

"But your uncle pulled you out of hibernation to come here." Toudou grinned happily just as a roar of laughter sounded from said uncle's general direction.

"Yeah. He's got his quirks but he's always been a good uncle to me. He's my dad's younger brother so he never had the same responsibilities or expectations put upon him and my dad always complains about him taking advantage of that." Makishima was sipping on a cup of oolong tea as he said this, eyes still affectionately exasperated as he glanced over at his uncle getting a little frisky with the women in his lap.

"Still, he brought Maki-chan here just in time for Valentine's day. I should thank him for saving me postage." Toudou, Makishima noticed, did not seem like much existed that could turn him shy, not even placing a small, neatly lined box of homemade chocolates in front of another boy as a Valentine's present. "It has to be fate, since my batch from yesterday finally turned out perfectly." Toudou still had that happy grin on his face as Makishima stared down at the box of chocolates, both surprised and surprisingly not. This was Toudou that he was friends with, after all.

As Makishima reached for a chocolate, he heard for the first time in his life a bit of shyness in Toudou's voice as he added, "I know how much you like sweets." Looking up, Makishima found Toudou's eyes still on him even as his cheeks appeared to be a little pinker than before.

"And I know that you don't much care for sweet things." Makishima laughed quietly as he placed the chocolate on his tongue and let it slowly melt against the heat to coat his mouth in velvety sweetness. As his chocolate was melting, Makishima reached into a pocket of his robe and pulled out a thin, simple gold chain. Not even asking for permission, Makishima scooted closer to Toudou so that he could reach up and carefully fasten the cool metal around Toudou's suddenly heated neck. "I thought that this would probably be a more suitable present for you." Makishima gave Toudou's wide eyed gaze a small smile, his long fingers still gently resting on the back of Toudou's neck even after the chain was securely fastened.

So close together and looking each other in the eyes with so much more than simple friendship dancing around right at their fingertips, Toudou really wanted to kiss his Maki-chan and wondered if it would taste like chocolate.

* * *

" _Hey, Maki-chan."_

" _You sound tired."_

" _Yeah, just finished with a team meeting. We're gonna leave you guys in the dust tomorrow, by the way."_

" _Mmhm."_

 _There was an unusually long drag of silence that seemed to be charged with all the words that Toudou wanted to say but wasn't. Pulling his phone away from his ear, Makishima glanced at it worriedly before remembering that Toudou couldn't see or appreciate his concern._

" _Jinpachi?"_

" _You're moving to England, aren't you?"_

 _It was the first time that Makishima had heard Toudou sound so quiet and genuinely sad that it made his chest clench._

" _Yeah."_

" _All the more reason to beat you before you leave!"_

 _The forced cheer in Toudou's voice was painfully evident._

" _Are you outside?"_

" _Yeah, I'm out on the balcony, the guys are a bit rowdy for me tonight. Why?"_

" _Wanna stargaze with me a bit before bed?"_

" _Of course."_

 _Ah, the smile was back in Toudou's voice, right where it should be._

" _I'm looking up and I see a seahorse, what do you see?"_

* * *

Their first kiss was salty from the sweat still drying on their lips, made sweeter by the remnants of water that had been thirstily chugged after the race. The heat of summer was horrendously stifling even under the grove of trees that Maki-chan had stood beneath to wait for Toudou, making their clothes glue to their bodies and making it impossible for any air to cool the sweat drenching their skin but Toudou didn't care. Hands tangled in as much of that waist length, beautiful green hair as Toudou could manage as he hugged their bodies flush against each other despite the heat.

It was not Toudou's first kiss, or second kiss, or even his tenth kiss. It wasn't even his first kiss with a boy. His first kiss happened when he was five with Hanami-chan after he offered her some of his apple slices. It had been a quick peck on the lips, but it was special because it made Toudou the first boy that he knew of to receive a kiss. His first real kiss, tongue included, occurred his second year of middle school. She was cute, all the boys wanted her, and Toudou had preened over scoring a date with her although he could not for the life of him remember her name. The first boy he kissed was shy Keiji from class B his first year of high school. Keiji was very quiet and booksmart, and there was something about him that had interested Toudou. His lips had been different from the girls' that Toudou had kissed, thinner and a bit stronger but Toudou kind of liked that.

Kissing Maki-chan, however, made Toudou feel like it was his very first kiss all over again. Thousands of butterflies were beating their wings against his nerves over the realization that Maki-chan was kissing him. Maki-chan's lips, lips that Toudou had seen crooked into so many different expressions over the years of their friendship, were pressed to his and stealing all of his strength, his breath, the very life from his chest and Toudou didn't want it to ever stop.

Their first kiss was swiftly followed by their second, their third, and their fourth. Each kiss becoming progressively more passionate as tongues tangled to further mix the salty and sweetness of their kisses, moans were pulled from chests only to be muffled between lips that refused to part, and hands desperately clung to each other as arms held bodies tight together.

It was the first time that Toudou was in love with the person that he was kissing, which made it the sweetest, most heart pounding kiss of his life. It was also the last time that Toudou would be able to kiss Maki-chan for a long while, and that just made him kiss Maki-chan even harder.

* * *

 _ **MY:**_ _Jinpachi, explain to me why Onoda just snuck into the library to take a picture of me_

 _studying_

 _ **MY:**_ _Jinpachi, answer your phone_

 _ **MY:**_ _Jinpachi_

 _ **MY:**_ _…_

 _ **MY:**_ _I'm going to change my number and not give you my address in England_

 _ **TJ:**_ _Manami was talking with Four Eyes, who said you were studying for exams and wearing_

 _glasses…_

 _ **MY:**_ _Glasses…_

 _ **TJ:**_ _Glasses 8)_

 _ **MY:**_ _You're weird_

* * *

Toudou was heartbroken, of that he was sure as he laid on the ground staring up at the cloudless blue sky above him, not caring a bit about the dozens of cyclists staring at him or the race that was about to start. Maki-chan was gone so there was no point anymore. Yes, Toudou had known about Maki-chan leaving to attend university in England, but he hadn't known that Maki-chan had left already. Maki-chan hadn't even bothered to give him a call to tell him that he was leaving. Then again, perhaps this way was best. Maki-chan was never good with confrontation and Toudou wasn't entirely sure how well he would have been able to hold himself together if that goodbye conversation had actually happened.

Regardless, Toudou's heart was sluggishly trudging along and he had no motivation to get his ass off the ground before getting run over when the race started. He missed his Maki-chan so much and nothing could distract him from how much his heart hurt, not even a cycling race. All he could think about was all the things he wanted to do with Maki-chan, instant dumplings included, and he was pretty sure Manami was giving him looks. Toudou didn't care if Manami thought he was losing it, didn't care that he had lost all motivation, all he wanted was…

Toudou was suddenly on his feet staring at Sohoku's four eyed climber as some kind of sixth sense in him tingled before screaming at him that Maki-chan was nearby. After getting up in Four Eyes' face and pulling out the truth, Toudou stretched himself up and even used Manami's shoulder to help him see over the heads of the other cyclists in an attempt to glimpse Maki-chan with his own eyes. Suddenly, there he was. Leisurely leaning over his handlebars at the very back of the pack and presenting Toudou with one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen was Maki-chan.

Maki-chan was there, _his_ Maki-chan was there, by some divine blessing from the mountain gods he was actually there and Toudou would get to race him again. This was the _best day ever_ and Toudou was so _pumped_ for the race to begin. Everything was a dull roar in the back of Toudou's conscious from the time the starting gun was fired up until the climb started and Maki-chan appeared beside him right where he belonged. Toudou's vision was snapped into sharp focus as they instantly fell into their comfortably familiar rivalry of egging each other on and pushing themselves to their limits to try and gain an edge.

Toudou's lungs were heaving, his muscles were seizing, his body was dripping with sweat, and he just could not stop smiling. He was climbing as hard as he could with Maki-chan dancing like the spider people called him next to him and he wished that the moment wouldn't end. He wished that he could forever ride beside this crazy, awkward, beautiful man that had stolen his heart. Although his wish could not come true, Toudou was going to enjoy this last climb together as high schoolers and give it everything that he had.

The most breathtaking sight that Toudou had witnessed so far in his life was Maki-chan with his long silky hair dancing freely in the breeze, bicycle tilting impossibly far to the left and right in a meticulously controlled rhythm, and blinding yellow jersey as he pulled ahead at the last second to cross the finish line first. Not even the twinge of disappointment could ruin the awe bursting within Toudou's chest when he looked up from the ground and saw the breathless, ecstatic smile on Maki-chan's face.

Not many words were exchanged as they removed their helmets and coasted along side by side, catching their breath as they realized that their score was now tied again. The promise of a rematch someday was given without being spoken, but Maki-chan's promise that he would be back was, spoken in that low, lilting voice of his. It was a promise that sent jolts of happiness straight to Toudou's heart.

* * *

Receiving the winner's title and bouquet didn't feel right at all for Toudou, even with Maki-chan's content face watching from the audience and even giving him a tiny heart stopping wink. Seeing the uncomfortable expression twisting Maki-chan's features when Toudou put all attention on him by handing him the bundle of flowers, on the other hand, did feel right. Maki-chan hated being the center of attention but Toudou couldn't always hog it for himself. Rolling his eyes and huffing out a put upon sigh, Maki-chan ducked his head to hide his smile as he graciously accepted the flowers.

"Go on a date with me?" Toudou's voice was soft so that only Maki-chan could hear him even though there was no one by them. There was a sincerity in Toudou's smile and a hopefulness in his eyes that told Makishima that he meant it, that maybe he was even a bit afraid of getting turned down.

Deciding that uncertainty did not look good on Toudou, Makishima let his hand blindly reach forward to grab Toudou's and tug him forward. Caught off guard, Toudou stumbled forward right into Maki-chan's arms as a curtain of warm green hair fell forth to block them from the eyes of the crowd. Snapped out of his temporary shock, Toudou's confidence slid back into place with a vengeance as he cupped the side of Maki-chan's smirking face with his free hand. Stretching up onto his tiptoes to reach his annoyingly tall boyfriend's lips with a quick kiss, a tight one armed hug, and a whispered, "meet me in town in two hours," Toudou then practically skipped away back to his team.

Despite the waves of exclamation from the onlookers at their little display to the side of the stage, Makishima had a happy smile on his face as he carelessly tucked his hair back behind his ear, held his flower bouquet close, and made his way back to his own knowingly smiling team.

* * *

Toudou was not a patient person, more so when he was anxiously waiting on his Maki-chan to show up for their date. Bouncing impatiently on the balls of his feet while obsessively checking his phone every other minute, Toudou was jolted out of his inner worrying over where Maki-chan was by the man in question resting his bony chin on Toudou's shoulder.

"I texted you five minutes ago saying that I was on my way." Maki-chan's voice was flat and totally judging, but Toudou could feel a quirk to the lips that pressed a kiss behind his ear before he spun around to greet his Maki-chan.

"Damn, Maki-chan." Toudou breathed the words like a prayer as all of the mock anger in his chest disappeared the instant he laid eyes on Makishima. His lovely long hair looked painfully smooth and soft after its wash, pulled up in a high ponytail to expose a long pale neck and frame his angular face with wavy bangs. What appeared to be a plain white shirt was covered by a black and red plaid top with the sleeves tastefully rolled to just above the elbows. Dark washed jeans _hugged_ those well toned thighs like they were spandex and Toudou was sorely tempted to peek and see if they hugged Maki-chan's butt as sinfully tight.

The only out of place piece in Maki-chan's designer worthy ensemble was the powder blue boots on his feet, but Maki-chan wouldn't be Maki-chan without some outlandish article of clothing on him and Toudou wouldn't have it any other way.

A curious, confused tilt of Maki-chan's head made Toudou blurt out, "You make me want to steal you away for the night and have my way with you." Immediately after, Toudou groaned in embarrassment and buried his face in his hands. "That didn't come out right." Damn. What the hell possessed him to say that out loud? He'd never been that straightforward or crude with anyone, so why did it have to be Maki-chan of all people that Toudou lost his cool in front of? Maki-chan was the one person that Toudou wanted to be perfect for and also probably the last person he should have said that to. Maki-chan was a naturally shy, awkward person as it was and now Toudou probably blew any and all chances that he'd ever have, no matter how small, to turn this into something that would last forever and-

"We'll leave that for later tonight." Maki-chan's voice was smooth and warm in its teasing laugh as thin fingers gently pried Toudou's hands away from his face. All embarrassment and freaking out were forgotten as Toudou stared into depthless blue in absolute shock over the suggestive words. Was his Maki-chan not as shy and sheltered as he thought?! "First, I do believe Onoda mentioned you whining about instant dumplings." Taking one of Toudou's unresponsive hands in his, Makishima tugged the still stunned Hakone climber along Kumamoto's famous food street.

Toudou shook off the shock fairly quickly and was soon filling Makishima's ear with familiar chatter as they strolled along down the long street lined on both sides with countless food stalls, their intertwined hands never dropping. They got their dumplings just like Toudou wanted, along with yakitori, takoyaki, crepes, a shared bowl of yakisoba, and a whole host of other delicacies that caught their eyes. They took their time drifting from stall to stall and filling their bellies, Makishima even let Toudou snap a few pictures of them with his phone. Makishima may have snuck a photo or two of his own when Toudou wasn't looking.

As dusk slowly fell upon the city the lanterns strung up above the food stalls and along the main streets came to life with warm yellow light to illuminate the darkening paths. Toudou found himself walking a little closer to Maki-chan's side, his hand squeezing a little tighter, and his chatter dwindling as a full stomach and sheer contentment washed over him. This entire day would be forever committed to memory and would be more than enough to get Toudou through the next few months of chaos as he moved on to university and missed his Maki-chan like crazy.

They meandered along for long lazy minutes, ducking in and out of little shops and letting themselves get lost within the crisscrossing town center as they made idle chatter. Toudou had made it a habit the past couple of years to perform a daily check up call to Maki-chan, so there was nothing happening in their lives that the other wasn't already informed of even if Makishima never asked. It made it kind of nice to not have to catch up with each other and instead just enjoy being together. Now that he realized that Maki-chan had been in England for roughly the past month… Toudou was not looking forward to that phone bill. They'd have to look into some other means of keeping in touch.

"How is England?" Toudou suddenly asked as they circled a sizeable pond at the edge of town with a paved walkway around it.

"Dreary." Makishima shrugged. "Some days aren't too bad. My brother says the countryside is nice and that I could bike through sheep fields. I might try to do that this fall. We're renting a nice loft close to campus, it's quiet. I'm working on getting a designing space set up so that my brother can start giving me projects to help on." His voice was as disinterested as it normally was, but Toudou was glad to detect the hints of excitement that Maki-chan showed for his new adventure.

"That sounds wonderful, Maki-chan. I'm a bit envious." Toudou tried to keep the wistfulness out of his voice and was thankful for the darkness hiding the sad smile forming on his lips.

"You'll have to visit me." Maki-chan had stopped walking, pulling Toudou to a stop alongside him, and didn't even bother trying to hide the quiet sadness in his own voice.

Relieved that it wasn't just him feeling this way, Toudou stepped in front of Maki-chan and reached for the hand that wasn't already being held in his. Toudou was all set to deliver some uplifting speech about distance only being a number and time nothing but a measure, but an adventurous firefly stole his moment by breaking away from the group flitting around above the pond's surface to land squarely on Maki-chan's nose. The sight of blue eyes going cross to pinpoint the foreign weight coupled with the soft glow emanating from the bug caused Toudou to burst out in peals of delighted laughter.

"Make a wish, Maki-chan." Toudou managed to gasp out in between his laughs as the firefly was scared back into flight.

Toudou had tears of mirth in his eyes and so could not see Maki-chan's expression turn thoughtfully serious as he gazed at Toudou standing before him, hands held tight in his and face alight with happiness. Toudou did, however, feel the lips that covered his to cut off his laughter and he eagerly responded. Unlike their kisses after the interhigh, this kiss held no feelings of being rushed as they took their time to feel every inch of each other's lips and map out every crevice inside hot, willing mouths. The kiss was slow and sweet while at the same time searing as they let all of their feelings of developing love and sadness at their impending separation consume them. It was the kind of kiss that lit a slow burning fire deep in Toudou's belly, languidly fanning it hotter and hotter until he was a trembling mess on the inside. Although he loathed the end to the kiss, Toudou was sort of grateful that Maki-chan pulled away when he did. He wasn't sure how much longer he could have controlled himself before turning that kiss indecent.

"All I want right now is you." Maki-chan had rested their foreheads together, but even with the close proximity the words were barely a whisper against Toudou's lips and he almost missed them. Staring breathlessly up into the dark pools of liquid that were Maki-chan's eyes in the dark, Toudou felt his heart shudder painfully at the naked, pure hearted desire in that wavering voice.

"You have me."

* * *

" _Hey, Maki-chan! You getting ready for practice, too? I just-"_

" _Toudou, what is that?" Makishima could faintly hear Arakita's voice in the background cutting Toudou off._

" _What's what?" Toudou's blaring voice was quieter, as if he'd turned away from the hand holding his phone, and Makishima breathed a sigh of relief as he relaxed his ramrod straight arm holding his own phone as far away from his ear as possible._

" _That." There was a short pause during which time Makishima assumed the snippy all-rounder was pointing something out to Toudou. "Did one of your girlfriends give you that?"_

" _What are you- Maki-chan! I told you not to leave marks above the collar!" The screeching was back full force and Makishima was tempted to drop his phone on the bench and walk away. "How am I supposed to cover this up in the middle of summer with no makeup?! This is not funny, Arakita, you utter bastard! Don't even-" There was a garbling of heated words being exchanged, prompting Makishima to follow his initial instinct to put his phone down and turn his attention back to getting changed._

" _Of all the people that you'd allow to suck your neck…"_

" _Hey! Let's not get started on the noises I heard the other day coming from the locker room, mister. You've got quite a few marks of your own going on right about-"_

" _The fuck?!" There was a loud banging noise, as if a locker door had been slammed open onto its neighbor. "I am going to kill that rabbit loving fucker the second I get my hands around his neck." Arakita's voice continued to rant on through the earpiece of Makishima's cellphone._

" _It's always the quiet ones."_

* * *

Makishima had gotten his own room at the inn that the out of town cycling teams were staying at, and as soon as the door clicked shut behind them and Toudou flipped the lock behind his back he found himself pressed back against said door with Maki-chan's entire body against him. With his arms pinned against the door above his head, Toudou was at the mercy of teeth nipping at his neck, lips dragging across his thundering pulse, and Maki-chan's tongue swirling heated patterns onto his skin.

Toudou had his head leaned back as far as he could with the door there to expose as much of his neck to Maki-chan as he could. Eyes wanted to close against the pleasure rolling through him but Toudou forced himself to keep them at least partially opened. He wanted to soak in every moment of this night. A sudden sharp bite right under his chin coupled with a cool hand unexpectedly all over his chest and teasing his left nipple pulled a low, needy moan from Toudou as his eye screwed shut.

Before Toudou could register the movement, hands had firmly grasped his thighs and pulled upwards to wrap his legs around slim hips and force his arms to fall around Maki-chan's neck to retain his balance. Hot, wet lips pressing against Toudou's smothered the embarrassingly high pitched gasp that was wrenched from his throat as their clothed erections were rubbed against each other. Supporting Toudou's weight with the help of the room's door, Makishima was near shameless as he ground their hips together with full intentions of pulling more noises like that from his boyfriend. One hand was gripped bruisingly tight on Toudou's right hip while the other was up the back of Toudou's shirt and scraping red lines into his pale skin. Makishima was so wrapped up in the man he was holding that he didn't hear his hair tie snap or notice his hair falling around the two of them in soft lilac scented waves.

Clothes were shed in puddles of color as Makishima moved them to the bed, separating their bodies only momentarily as he laid Toudou down. The white hairpin keeping Toudou's bangs in check was gently removed and placed on the nightstand before he was handily divested of his jeans and top, leaving him bare to the world save for his underwear. The chill of the room against Toudou's heated skin raised little goosebumps all over before Makishima's already equally naked body pressed back against his. Warm, smooth skin flush against his with even less clothing between their aching cocks made Toudou latch his mouth onto Makishima's neck and bite down hard.

Groaning around his mouthful, urged on by the breathy gasp in his ear, Toudou wanted nothing more than to leave marks all over his Maki-chan that would last for days and for his body to end the night just as bruised. He wanted the physical reminder of this night to hold onto for as long as possible after Maki-chan took his heart back to England. Toudou's world was suddenly flipped and the next time he blinked he was somehow stradling Maki-chan's hips, pinning him to the bed and gazing down at him, mesmerized by the sea of green splayed out across the bedspread and the searing lust in those blue, so very blue eyes.

"God, Yuusuke, the things I want to do to you." Toudou nearly whined as he leaned forward to rest his forehead against Maki-chan's sternum, uncaring for the disarray that his hair was in as long fingers scraped deliciously against his scalp.

The low rumbling laugh in Maki-chan's chest vibrated against Toudou's forehead and would have offended him if there wasn't currently a hand down the back of his underwear kneading at his buttcheek. Instead of scolding Maki-chan for laughing at his neediness, Toudou instead frantically ground his hips against Maki-chan's in search of some relief as he moaned uncontrollably into the chest he was leaning into.

"I thought you were going to have your way with me tonight." The teasing voice right in his ear snapped any remaining control that Toudou had been holding onto. With an almost feral growl, Toudou was down and sucking on one of Maki-chan's nipples, causing the body under him to arch up as a gasp of shock and pleasure was pulled forth.

Lips and tongue worked fervently at their captive nub of sensitive flesh as nimble fingers teased the other, rapidly reducing Makishima into a helpless pile of moans pulled from somewhere deep in his chest. Firm hands grasped in Toudou's hair kept him in place as he laved attention onto Maki-chan and his name, his first name, was falling from lust parted lips in breathless whispers. Hearing his name spoken like that did absolutely nothing to lessen the throbbing between his legs and Toudou was going to have to kick this up a notch or risk coming without getting to the good part.

Toudou faintly registered the sound of tearing seams as he yanked Maki-chan's underwear down and off to set his hard, flushed cock free to bob up against an equally flushed stomach. Maki-chan was red from head to toe in a combination of embarrassment and arousal, the back of his one hand covering the lower half of his face as his eyes stayed glued upon Toudou as he hungrily eyed the naked cock that was currently eye level with him. It was long and slender, just like Maki-chan, and Toudou gently grasped it before licking it slowly from base to tip with his tongue flattened against the hardened shaft.

A strangled moan was muffled by Makishima biting down on the hand that was partially hiding his face and Toudou was quick to reach up and grasp that hand in his to pull it away. He wanted to hear every single sound that Maki-chan made and was not about to allow anything to hinder that. With one hand tangled with Maki-chan's and the other wrapped around the base of the cock he was teasing, Toudou was enjoying the squirmy reactions he was getting from circling the tip of his tongue around the underside of the head. Makishima's hips coming clear off the bed as Toudou took his length into his mouth as far as he could in one swoop, paired with the breathless gasp and hand tangled neary painfully in his hair, was an experience that Toudou was never forgetting.

"Jin-Jinpachi." Makishima gasped out as he tugged on the ebony hair wound between his fingers to get Toudou to look up form what appeared to be an enjoyable task if the happy little moans were anything to go by. "Back zipper of my bag, there's a tube of lube that you might want to use sometime soon."

"Maki-chan, you dirty little vixen." Toudou grinned teasingly before moving to shimmy to the edge of the bed and search for Makishima's travel bag. On his stomach hanging halfway off the bed, Toudou felt hands rest themselves on his butt, pulling his underwear down before lips were intimately exploring its curvature and causing a giddy little laugh to bubble up in his chest.

"It turns you on." The cocky smirk was evident both in Maki-chan's voice and in his lips that were skimming over Toudou's overly sensitive skin.

Flipping over onto his back, Toudou displaced Maki-chan from his position before settling him back down on top of him cradled between his hips. When their now fully naked bodies aligned and their heated cocks rubbed together with ecstasy inducing friction Toudou just about lost it. Maki-chan's soft lips teasing his along with gentle fingers rubbing soothing circles on Toudou's hip kept him anchored as he wrapped his arms around Maki-chan's neck to keep him close. Puffs of hot, moist breaths were exhaled in the barely there space between their lips in between kisses as they rocked against each other.

Blindly groping for wherever the lube had landed on the bed, Toudou's fingers finally curled around it before hastily flipping it open and squeezing a generous amount onto his fingers. With Maki-chan still on top of him, Toudou reached down to start circling his slightly quivering hole before eagerly swallowing the moan of pained pleasure as he eased a finger in. Their lips parted with a wet kiss as Toudou experimentally thrust his finger in and out of the incredibly tight heat surrounding it and Maki-chan's entire body was trembling with want.

Hands were fisted in the bedsheets on either side of Toudou's head as Maki-chan buried his face in the side of Toudou's neck, pleas for more mingling with gasping, hitching moans. Not one to deny Maki-chan anything that he begged so earnestly for, Toudou pulled his finger out before going back in with two. Teeth bit painfully into Toudou's shoulder but was offset by the glorious drag of their cocks rubbing together as Makishima rocked his hips back against the fingers stretching him out, pushing them into himself as far as they would go with every backward thrust.

"Jinpachi," Makishima gasped.

"Hm?" Toudou was surprised that he managed even that much when Maki-chan had his lips practically everywhere, his voice was so deliciously breathless, and Toudou himself was occupied with imagining that it was his cock rather than his fingers being enveloped by that tight wet heat.

"I want you in me-" Toudou's fingers found Maki-chan's sweet spot and made him cut himself off with a gasp. "Please."

Toudou had Maki-chan on his back so fast he impressed even himself. Even though his pulse was pounding in his ears, his hands were sweating in anticipation, and his hormones were through the roof, Toudou had to stop for a moment and try to catch his breath as his eyes took in his Maki-chan. Laid bare beneath him, Makishima was all beautiful lean muscle that Toudou had already begun to memorize the contours of with both his hands and lips, his pale skin pinkened from rushing blood contrasting against the dark covers he was laid on. What truly stole Toudou's breath and made his heart gallop faster, however, was the look in Makishima's eyes.

The lust and carnal desire were still there, broiling just under the surface of those sky blue eyes, but above that was unmistakable softness that beamed affection, tenderness, and so much unabashed love. It was the first time Toudou had seen Maki-chan's emotions so prominently uncovered and it made him want to hold Maki-chan as close to him as he could and love him all night long. Keeping himself propped up above Maki-chan with one arm, Toudou moved his other to brush the hair out of Maki-chan's eyes before cradling his cheek in his palm.

"I love you, Yuusuke." Toudou whispered as Makishima placed a kiss to his hand before nuzzling into it.

"Show me." The whispered response was both a challenge and a plea, both of which Toudou was more than happy to meet.

Lowering himself to seal his lips over Makishima's, Toudou gently guided Makishima's legs to rest with ankles on Toudou's hips and knees bent to give Toudou a glorious view of his prepped and waiting hold. Toudou was diligent in gathering every ounce of his self control as he took himself in hand and lined up with Makishima before slowly pushing in. The heat and the tightness that was engulfing his cock bit by bit, convulsing around it ever so slightly before sucking him further in, was nothing short of pure bliss.

Their moans of pain and pleasure echoed each other as teeth sunk into skin, nails dug into flesh, and Toudou slid steadily further into Makishima. Slotting in those last few centimeters to sheath himself fully, Toudou could have almost cried from the overwhelming intensity of being inside his Maki-chan with their hips flush against each other. Harsh breaths were being panted in his ear as Makishima adjusted to being so filled, and even if those deliciously long legs hadn't been wrapped around his waist to keep him in place like a vice Toudou would not have moved. Aside from not wanting to cause Maki-chan any avoidable hurt it just felt so damn good for Toudou, simply lying on top of him with his balls pressed up into the crease between his buttcheeks and his cock massaged by muscles that were fighting to relax.

"Okay." Makishima finally breathed out as some of the tension melted from his body and Toudou felt himself being pulled impossibly deeper. Opening eyes that he had not realized had fluttered closed, Toudou found himself nose to nose with the most beautiful man that he had ever seen.

"Okay." Toudou echoed just as breathlessly before he slowly, almost reluctantly, started to pull out. His eyes never once closed or looked away from Maki-chan's face, wanting to take in every expression and every reaction.

When Toudou had pulled out until just his head remained to stretch Maki-chan's hole and he physically ached to plunge back in, he held himself in check and remained still just long enough to make Maki-chan squirm and let out little whining noises from the back of his throat. Pleased by the half-hearted glare that his teasing garnered, Toudou slid back into Makishima in one fluid thrust that had both of them gasping out in pleasure.

Holding each other close and sharing sloppy open mouthed kisses when breathing allowed, Toudou forced back the tidal wave coiling low in his belly as he experimented. Different speeds, different forces, different angles, Toudou wanted to try them all as he watched for every flutter of Maki-chan's eyelashes, every hard swallow as he tried to not lose himself completely to passion, every surprised gasp of ecstasy when that one spot was brushed, Toudou wanted it all.

Still keeping Makishima's legs wrapped securely around him, Toudou began to disentangle their arms from around each other before sitting up. Pausing the dance that their bodies had fallen so astonishingly easily into together, Toudou pressed a soft lingering kiss to Makishima's lips before pulling away to fully kneel on the bed between his thighs. Looking down at lust darkened blue eyes filled with quiet adoration and longing, a strong chest expanding and collapsing in an attempt to keep up with their desire, and quivering stomach muscles that were desperately trying to coax him back into motion, Toudou could not imagine a more perfectly beautiful sight.

Moving Makishima's legs so that they were now resting on his shoulders rather than his hips, Toudou leaned himself forward just enough to lift Makishima's butt up to a better angle before he began to thrust deep and hard into Makishima's heat. Makishima arched up as far as he could with a broken cry of pleasure when the first thrust nailed his sweet spot dead on. As each of the subsequent thrusts were near clones of the first Makishima had to reach for anything that would ground him to reality. One hand had latched onto one of Toudou's arms planted on the bed to either side of Makishima to stabilize himself, gripping so hard that Toudou knew he'd be bruised for days and that only fueled him to thrust harder.

Their bodies were glistening with sweat as their mingled voices climbed higher in pitch and their pulses raced faster. Toudou's rhythm was beginning to falter as his mounting climax loosened his grip on the controls to his body, and soon the room was filled with the erratic beating of the bed hitting the wall drowned out only by the impassioned gasping of their names.

Makishima was first to fall over the edge when Toudou grabbed hold of his straining member to pump it in time with a particularly forceful thrust. With a shout that would undoubtedly leave Maki-chan's throat raw, he came in several long spurts all over his belly as Toudou continued to massage him. With Maki-chan clenching so unbelievably tight around him it only took Toudou three more quick thrusts before he buried himself deep and came in heavy bursts that left his cock twitching inside Maki-chan's now filled channel.

The warm mess of Makishima's release was squished between their bodies as Toudou let his body meld bonelessly back on top of Maki-chan's. Several minutes passed in silence as they caught their breath and came down from their shared high as sweat began to cool and chill their bodies where they weren't touching. Lazy fingers brushed through Toudou's damp bangs, moving them back out of his face and piquing his interest enough to lift his head from where it had been resting on Maki-chan's chest.

Toudou had to amend his previous thought. Seeing Maki-chan so languidly content, eyes soft as they began to feel the pull of sleep and his one hand still stroking through the baby tangles in Toudou's hair, _that_ was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

* * *

Morning came far too soon after far too short of a night, but the lips teasing him back to the waking world made it better especially when Toudou managed to turn that good morning kiss into round two. This time it was unhurried, slow passion that drove them together, allowing enough time for Makishima to discover that steady tugs to Toudou's hair reduced him to purring mewls and for Toudou to find that spot behind Makishima's ear that reduced him to a puddle of incoherent babbling.

After another mind blowing orgasm each, they squeezed into the shower together to wash up. Under the stream of water steaming up the bathroom they soaped each other up, Toudou giggling at the feel of suds slickened skin gliding together. Taking their time even though Makishima had a plane to catch in a few hours, they made sure that their partner was thoroughly clean and they were both secretly enjoying the intimacy that was something akin to but different from their sexual intimacy. After a long, slow kiss as their conditioner sat for a minute they rinsed off and stepped out.

They toweled off, interspersing the act with playful gropes and grinning kisses, before going back to the bedroom to dress and, in Makishima's case, pack. As Toudou sat cross-legged on the bed and watched Maki-chan gather his belongings he felt a comfy weight of peaceful happiness tinged with a hint of bittersweet sadness settle in his chest. It was hard watching Maki-chan prepare to leave him for several months, but their night together along with the promise of many more such nights would keep him going.

"Jinpachi, where's your cellphone?" Maki-chan's question surprised Toudou out of his thoughts and perplexed him when he registered it, but he dutifully reached to grab his phone from the nightstand and handed it to Maki-chan sitting next to his open bag on the floor.

Toudou leaned forward in curiosity as Maki-chan searched for something in his bag that he then spent a moment fiddling with as he attached it. Accepting his phone being handed back to him, Toudou cocked his head quizzically at the little cartoon-like spider charm that was now dangling from it.

"Onoda bought me more of these things than I would ever know what to do with." Makishima explained as he flipped his own phone open, sporting an identical charm to Toudou's, and began typing.

Toudou was about to pout over Maki-chan spending their last moment together on his phone when his own phone buzzed in his hands. Glancing at the screen to see an email alert message lighting it up, Toudou's line of sight was then blocked by Maki-chan's hand covering his and his attention was stolen by a pair of lips that he was now very well acquainted with. Letting the kiss distract him to the fullest possible amount, Toudou dropped his phone on the bed so that he could use his arms to wrap Maki-chan up and pull him in closer.

Despite his insistent whines of protest when the kiss was threatening to end, Toudou was not able to dissuade Maki-chan from pulling back with a small laugh at his reaction. Taking a moment to play with long bangs that had not yet been tamed back by Toudou's headband, Makishima simply took in the sight of Toudou in his arms before speaking again.

"It's from me, open it when you need it."

Despite Makishima's cryptic words and the dozens of questions that they could have raised, Toudou knew exactly what Maki-chan was telling him and pulled him into a bone crushing hug. Burying his face in Maki-chan's neck, deeply inhaling Maki-chan's scent and holding on with everything that he had, Toudou may have started crying, just a little, and if Toudou's shoulder was a bit damp when they finally reluctantly pulled apart he'd never tell.

* * *

 _ **TJ:**_ _Maki-chan, I can't sleep :(_

 _ **MY:**_ _I was sleeping_

 _ **TJ:**_ _You should help me fall asleep :D_

 _ **TJ:**_ _Maki-chan?_

 _ **TJ**_ _: Maki-chaaaan_

 _ **TJ:**_ _Don't ignore me D:_

 _ **TJ:**_ _I will keep texting you until you respond_

 _ **TJ:**_ _I know you don't silence your phone when you go to bed_

 _ **TJ:**_ _Maki-chan!_

 _ **MY:**_ _If I call you and let you blabber at me until you fall asleep will that shut you up?_

 _ **TJ:**_ _:DDDD_

* * *

Toudou opened the email the day that he first stood outside the door of his university's cycling club room, the knowledge that it was just not going to be the same staying his hand from opening the door. Truthfully, Toudou had seriously considered just quitting any kind of competitive cycling, but the lure of the club room had been pulling at him for weeks and weakening his resolve. Flipping open his phone, he finally acknowledged the months old email alert and prayed for some kind of sign to tell him what to do.

Reading the short message through several times over, each read through making the smile on Toudou's face grow bigger and bigger, he snapped his phone shut before confidently striding forward and opening the club room door.

 _I'll always be riding in front of you. Better keep up._

Toudou would never tell Maki-chan how many times he opened that message over the years, but he had a feeling that Maki-chan knew anyways.

* * *

Winter in England wasn't much different from the rest of the year, just a bit colder and a bit drearier. There wasn't much snow to speak of, which saddened Makishima to no end, but at least the chill in the air made him want to settle into his designing nook and be productive. He'd managed to acquire a reasonably priced, gently used second hand drafting table and splurged on a comfy ergonomic chair that he could stand sitting in for hours on end. Settled into the corner beside the large window overlooking the streets below the apartment, Makishima was happily in his element as he indulged his passion for design. With several completed designs already, all a little over the top in a tastefully artistic way and each one involving the model wearing a headband in some form, Makishima was nervously awaiting news on one of his designs being chosen for a small but named fashion show.

With the winter holidays in full swing, Makishima had the apartment to himself while his brother visited their parents to sit at his drafting table in pyjamas for days on end, drinking copious amounts of tea and coffee as he worked on his designs. His laptop was a permanent fixture at his workstation, as present as his sketch paper and pencils, but he didn't use it for digital designing, nope. The laptop was for the daily Skype calls that Toudou felt like bombarding him with, regardless of how busy either of them were with their schoolwork or life. Some nights they would simply sit in silence as they waded through term papers and exam studies, but neither of them minded and neither ever missed a single night's call.

Festive music was streaming quietly from his open laptop as Makishima bent over his latest creation, sketch pencil held purposefully between his fingers as he led it across the paper to give detailing to the rose inspired skirt that he was designing. His brother had decorated the place before leaving for the week, leaving Makishima with an admirably sized Christmas tree that they had decorated together, twinkle lights framing the window his workstation was next to, and garland and tinsel on nearly every flat surface. It was a bit much, really, but Makishima wasn't about to dampen his brother's joy at spending the holiday season together again. His parents had asked him to fly back to Japan along with his brother for the week, but with the potential fashion show Makishima had chosen to stay behind in England in anticipation of the news.

Telling Toudou that he wasn't going to be making it home for Christmas had been an ordeal.

A cheerful verse of _Call Me Maybe_ , which had been forcefully downloaded onto his cellphone without his consent, broke Makishima's concentration as his phone began ringing. Startling him to the point of nearly tipping off of his chair, Makishima had to grab hold of the table edge to steady himself again before he shot his phone a reproachful glare. It was Christmas Eve, all of his friends in England had already sent him well wishes as had his friends from back home, so who was left who had the gall to interrupt his peaceful evening of solitude?

"Maki-chan!"

Makishima really should have guessed.

"Toudou? What's up?" Makishima furrowed his brows as he cradled his phone between his shoulder and ear so that he could lean back over his table to resume working. "Our skype time is in an hour." And international phone calls were expensive as hell, Makishima thought ruefully.

"Yeah… I don't think I'll be able to make it tonight." The remorse in Toudou's voice stilled Makishima's hand as he leaned back in his chair again.

"Is everything alright?" He was genuinely concerned now. Never once in all the months that they'd been apart had Toudou canceled a Skype call.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, everything's fine. Your street is lovely, by the way. I love the Christmas lights strung up everywhere."

"It's not so enjoyable when they keep me up at night because my blinds are missing a few slats- wait." Makishima was suddenly on his feet, eyes staring wide and unseeing out the window as Toudou's words registered. "How do you know what my street looks like?"

The apartment's knocker thunked against the heavy wood door twice, snapping Makishima's attention away from the window and towards the entryway.

"Maki-chan, you're not going to keep me out here all night, are you? It's cold." The whine in Toudou's voice barely reached Makishima's ear before he was striding towards the front door and yanking it open.

There Toudou was, impossible as it was to believe, standing at the doorstep with his purple winter coat, white earmuffs, giant toothy grin, and a suitcase at his feet. Toudou's lips parted as he lowered his cellphone, looking as if he was about to say something, but whatever words were on his tongue were lost when he was yanked into the apartment by the front of his coat, his suitcase barely following suit before the door was slammed shut.

Quite a few hours later saw the apartment with its lights dimmed, leaving the Christmas lights to be the main source of light to reveal the discarded winter coat and earmuffs sitting by the front door next to a pile of clothing and the abandoned suitcase lying forlornly on its side. If anyone had been walking by in the hallway during those hours they may have heard the scrabbling of fingernails against the wood door and unrestrained moans of pleasure as Makishima took Toudou right there in the entryway up against the front door. Makishima's pyjama bottoms were thrown over the back of the couch where they'd moved to after the front door had been properly desecrated. After mind blowing blowjobs on the couch, Makishima had hauled Toudou into his arms and carried the smaller man into his bedroom. Any clothing items that had managed to hang onto their bodies to this point finally met their resting place on the bedroom floor as Makishima unraveled Toudou's sanity thread by thread on his bed, taking his time to tease and torment his boyfriend with tongue and fingers until Toudou was begging for more.

Finally satiated as they lay curled up together beneath Makishima's covers, their hands gently roamed over each other's bodies as they reacquainted themselves with the person that they'd missed for so long. Gentle fingertips tickled Toudou's side as they glided slowly from his hip up to his neck and then slowly back, lulling him deeper into the warmth of the blankets and his Maki-chan as sleep tugged him further and further into its hold.

"Merry Christmas, Maki-chan." Toudou murmured into the hollow of Makishima's neck, his lips smiling against the warm skin as he heard the huskiness in his voice that could only come from some fantastic sex.

"Merry Christmas." Makishima whispered back as he held Toudou close, feeling the body in his arms slowly relax as sleep overtook him. His eyes drifted to his bedside table where, safely nestled in the drawer, a small ring box had been placed a month prior. They were still young and in school, not to mention the thousands of miles between them, and Makishima had never been the spontaneous type to take a flying leap off of a cliff… but Toudou had been making him do inexplicable things from the day they met and maybe, just maybe…

* * *

Gentle fingers combing through his hair roused Toudou from the light doze that he'd drifted into. Blinking his eyes open, slowly but less reluctantly than the first time, Toudou was met with sleep hazy blue eyes, lazily quirked lips that smiled just a bit wider upon seeing him awake, and bed tangled green hair spread haphazardly over both of them. It was a sight that he'd never tire of waking up to.

The sunlight pushing against the blinds was much stronger now, partially illuminating the cozy, evidently well lived in bedroom. Clothes discarded on the hardwood floors puddled their colors together in the thin rays of sun that broke through the blinds as did several frames that were hung on the wall. A violet rose, pressed perfectly and mounted lovingly even amidst teasing laughter. A pencil sketch of the first design to see a runway, hung with unbridled pride despite its creator's flustered protests. The framed picture of the two of them at their last interhigh with their respective tags mounted on either side within the frame was beside the picture of their bikes standing beside each other on a no name dirt road in some English countryside, curious sheep peeking in from the edges of the picture.

The most important item in the room illuminated by the sun was the glimmering gold band on Maki-chan's left ring finger that flashed in and out of sight as he continued to stroke Toudou's hair. Its twin was on Toudou's left hand and when Toudou reached up to take Maki-chan's hand in his the rings gleamed happily beside each other. Bringing their hands up so that he could press a kiss to Maki-chan's knuckles, Toudou turned a bright smile upon the man that he still couldn't believe was his husband.

"Good morning, beautiful."

A serene laugh left Makishima's lips before he leaned in for a proper good morning kiss.

"You stole my line."


End file.
